165 MW to be generated
by 11 solar energy consortia

Ministry signs contracts

at ¢5.7-6.27 per kWh

The Ministry of Energy and Water has signed contracts to buy electricity from 11 private sector consortia which will build solar power plants with a capacity of 15 megawatts each, or a total of 165 megawatts.

The solar power stations located in the Bekaa will sell energy to Electricité du Liban (EDL) at ¢5.7/kWh (US cents per kilowatt-hour). In other regions the charge will be ¢6.27/kWh.

A year ago, the 11 consortia were licensed by the government to construct the solar power plants. They will have to raise the necessary financing to implement the projects.

Walid Fayad, caretaker Minister of Energy and Water said that lifting the subsidies that aimed to support the prices of fuels used for power generation by the private sector in addition to the subsidies on EDL tariffs made solar power generation the least expensive. He said that generating electricity at EDL costs ¢17/kWh while solar energy is cheaper, clean, and sustainable.

The country’s goal for 2030 is to generate 3,000 megawatts of electricity through solar power and 1,000 megawatts through wind power, besides completing the development of the solar water heating and heat pump sectors, Fayad said. The national electricity plan aims to generate 30 percent of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030.

The consortia are distributed across governorates as follows:

Baalbek-Hermel and Bekaa
Ecosys-Kaco, Dawtec-Looop-Staunch, Labwe Solar

Mount Lebanon
Joun Pv., Sibline Solar Farm, E/One

South and Nabatiyeh
South Power, Rimat 15, GDS-ET-Nabatiyeh

North and Akkar
Kfifane-Phoenix, Elect-STC-Solistis